Wild Goal Stands After Inconclusive Offside Review

An eight-minute review – with the discussion taking place on an ordinary cell phone – resulted in an ‘inconclusive’ determination which left many fans scratching their heads.

Minnesota’s Zack Parise collected his own rebound and flipped it past Corey Crawford, tying the game at 2-2. As the Wild celebrated, Chicago coach Joel Quenneville challenged the play.

Linesmen Ryan Daisy and Brian Mach huddled around the review tablet. Due to an apparent malfunction in the league’s communication headsets, Daisy borrowed a cell phone to communicate with the NHL’s Situation Room to review the play. After eight long minutes, referee Kyle Rehman delivered the verdict.

The replay was inconclusive. The goal would stand.

The criteria for the review is not when the puck crossed the blueline. Since Parise was tagging up and Coyle had not yet received the pass, the critical moment is when the puck touches Coyle’s stick.

That’s covered in Rule 83.3:

During the course of the delayed off-side, any member of the attacking team touches the puck, attempts to gain possession of a loose puck, forces the defending puck carrier further back into his own zone, or who is about to make physical contact with the defending puck carrier, the Linesman shall stop play for the off-side violation.

If Coyle touches the puck before Parise’s skates make contact with the blueline, it’s offside. If the skates touch first, it’s a good play.

If it’s inconclusive… well, as we saw, the goal stands.

See if you can spot the exact moment the puck contact’s Coyle’s stick.

Did he actually make contact before Parise’s skate hit the line? Can you be certain? Enough so to overturn a goal?

The linesmen didn’t seem to think so. The NHL’s standard for overturning a goal on review reads as follows:

The standard for overturning the call in the event of a “GOAL” call on the ice is that the Toronto Video Room, after reviewing any and all available replays and consulting with the Linesman, determines that one or more Players on the attacking team preceded the puck into the attacking zone prior to the goal being scored and that, as a result, the play should have been stopped for an “Off-side” infraction; where this standard is met, the goal will be disallowed.